The pace of progress towards improving the energy efficiency of homes has halved over the past five years compared to the previous five, despite the government’s policy push, a report by Rightmove has found.
The property website analysed the energy performance certificate (EPC) ratings of 30 million homes listed for sale or for let this year and combined this with insights from survey respondents to produce the report.
Rightmove says that despite the 2020 policy push, which introduced a minimum EPC E requirement for rental properties and proposed a future EPC C mandate, the latest five-year view shows the pace of improvements has almost halved.
In the five years running up to 2020, the proportion of rental homes with an EPC rating of C or above rose from 41% to 52% – a jump of 11 percentage points.
In the past five years, from 2020 to 2025, the proportion has only risen 6 percentage points further, from 52% to 58%.
Progress in the owner-occupied sector follows a similar pattern but the number of homes rated C or better remains lower than in the rental market.
Rightmove found that 46% of homes listed for sale now meet this standard.
The report says the financial case for improving efficiency is compelling.
It found that homes listed for sale with an EPC rating of A have average annual energy bills of £571, whereas for G-rated homes it is £6,368.
However, the report highlights a substantial knowledge gap, as even though 84% of people say that EPCs matter, 63% of renters and 50% of homeowners don’t know their property’s rating.
The report also highlights variations in progress across different regions.
In the rental market, London is ahead with 66% of properties at EPC C or above, while Wales lags behind with only 48%.
Rightmove property expert Colleen Babcock says: “Policy ambition hasn’t translated into real-world acceleration.
“We might have expected green improvements to speed up in the rental sector following policy pushes, but the data shows progress over the past five years has been slower than the previous five.
She adds: “For landlords, the challenge is balancing compliance with cost and potential value appreciation, and for renters, it’s about finding homes that deliver real savings.
“Energy efficiency isn’t just good for the planet, it’s good for the pocket too, and making it easier to achieve will be key to unlocking faster change.”
